It's time to celebrate!

Abstract

AbstractThe beginning of the 19th century was a remarkable period for culture and science, indeed. Many of Beethoven's great works were performed for the first time, the first asteroids Ceres and Pallas were discovered, Alessandro Volta informed the Royal Society in London about a new source for electrical current, the industrial revolution began with the invention of punch card controlled weaving machines by Jacquard and the appearance of steam engines as power sources for ships or trains, and Alexander von Humboldt travelled and surveyed the New World. At the same time, also the foundations of modern crystallography and solid state science were laid, with the discovery of many metallic elements and, most notably, the first editions of René Just Haüy's “Traité de Minéralogie” in 1801 and the “Traité de Physique” in 1803.On this scale of events, the opening of a small printing shop in lower Manhattan by Charles Wiley in 1807 remained practically unnoticed. However, in the following 200 years not only did solid state physics develop into one of the most active fields in modern science, but also the small printing shop did prosper into one of the largest science publishers worldwide. physica status solidi became part of the Wiley family with the acquisition of VCH in 1996 and, since then, has enjoyed the support and stimulating atmosphere as the largest solid state physics unit within Wiley. Thus, all members of the Editorial Office and all Editors of physica status solidi take great pleasure in congratulating Wiley on the occasion of the 2007 Bicentennial and expressing their best wishes for a prosperous future!Also physica status solidi has continued its growth and positive development under the publishing agreement entered with Wiley in 2002. Thus, the number of submitted and published articles has again increased significantly in the past year, by 20% and 25%, respectively. Among the other notable events in 2006 was the completion of the Physics and Astronomy Backfile Collection, which now provides easy and complete access to more than 300 000 pages published in physica status solidi since the foundation of the journal at www.interscience.wiley.com/backfiles/physics. And last but not least, the Rapid Research Letter section of physica status solidi has just been launched as an independent journal, pss‐RRL, complementing pss (a), pss (b), and pss (c) by providing a special service for the fast publication of important new findings in all areas of solid state physics. Please have a look at the home page of the new journal www.pss‐rapid.com for further details.As this year comes to an end, I would like to express my sincere thanks to our authors, referees, readers, and everybody involved in editing and producing physica status solidi for their continued interest, valuable contributions, and dedication. Good luck and all the best for 2007! And once again: Happy 200th anniversary, Wiley!Garching, December 2006